This invention relates to apparatus for loosening of wheel nuts or lugs on a vehicle wheel and more particularly to an adjustable support apparatus capable of providing a great deal of torque to facilitate the removal of a wheel lug or nut from an automobile or other vehicle.
Anyone who has ever repaired a flat tire or removed a tire from an automobile knows the difficulty in imparting a sufficient force by using a conventional lug wrench to "break" or rotate a wheel lug. The problem even becomes more difficult for those persons who are physically weaker than average individuals, such as females and so on.
As is known, a conventional lug wrench used to loosen wheel nuts is of an L shaped configuration having a handle portion of a sufficient length to provide a mechanical advantage to enable a user to develop a fairly large torque with a given imparted force. In these devices, great care has to be taken so as to not twist or pull the wrench so that it disengages from the lug and hence, may cause injury to the vehicle or to the user.
The prior art is cognizant of such problems and hence, there are a plurality of patents which attempt to obviate the problems by providing support devices which serve to increase the mechanical advantage and tend to provide greater stability to the apparatus, as will be explained. many such devices are not amenable to be used with automobiles as they cannot be easily stored in the trunk of the vehicle due to their size and construction. Other devices are extremely difficult to manufacture as they are relatively complicated and hence, present difficulties both in construction and in use. It is, of course, understood that many such devices relate to the removal of wheel lugs or nuts from all types of vehicles, including trucks and so on.
Typical of such prior art techniques is the apparatus depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 2,447,919 entitled ADJUSTABLE SUPPORT issued on Aug. 24, 1948 to A. F. Teigen. This patent discloses a wrench shank which is secured to a slide, which slide is mounted on a support stand for vertical movement. The patent discloses a clamping structure which will clamp the mechanisms to a tubular base member.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,895 issued on Nov. 22, 1960 entitled WRENCH SUPPORT by G. Richards depicts a relatively complicated mechanism which is adjustable and includes a wheel base arrangement having three transverse arms and is particularly adapted for use in a terminal facility such as a garage and so on.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,550 entitled LUG WRENCH SUPPORT by H. H. Johnston issued on July 16, 1963 depicarrangement having three transverse arms and is particularly adapted for use in a terminal facility such as a garage and so on.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,097,550 entitled LUG WRENCH SUPPORT by H. H. Johnston issued on July 16, 1963 depicts a jack type assembly which is vertically adjusted to permit an outer supported end of a lug wrench to be elevated and adjusted.
Other patents such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,730,027 entitled ADJUSTABLE TRUCK WRENCH SUPPORT issued on May 1, 1973 to D. M. Rohn depicts a jack like stand for supporting the shaft of a lug wrench, which apparatus includes a pair of telescoping tubular members mounted on a foldable base assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,832,917 entitled A DEVICE FOR LOOSENING WHEEL NUTS OR LUGS OF AUTOMOBILE WHEELS issued on Sept. 3, 1974 to F. Feith depicts an upstanding rod like member with a support base having a slidable collar, which collar can be vertically positioned by means of a thumb screw adjustment.
As one will ascertain by a perusal of the above noted patents, such devices are relatively complicated, difficult to operate and adjust, and many are not suitable for containment within the trunk of a vehicle, as they are large and cumbersome to operate, use and store.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus particularly adapted to loosen wheel lugs, while providing a simple and economical configuration capable of affording a large mechanical advantage to thereby enable a physically weak individual to remove a lug or nut in an extremely reliable and efficient manner.